Kurt Helin

Monday was Day 1 of the Impact Competitive Training Series out in Las Vegas. That is some organized run for NBA guys, a chance for them to fine tune their games and get in shape for training camps and a season that may or may not come soon. About 40 guys were there for the…

Money was always the biggest potential stumbling block to Rick Adelman coming to coach the Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota has been a notoriously cheap franchise. Owner Glen Taylor has a mid-market team and he ran it on a budget. It explained things like why former coach Kurt Rambis was embarrassingly left to twist in the wind…

You keep hearing the buzz — teams are trying to get together, to work out together. Normally this is the pre-camp time when teammates workout and play pickup together at the team facilities, but thanks to the lockout there is none of that. So some team leaders are trying to organize workouts. Andray Blatche tried…

Kicking Timberwolves General Manager David Kahn has been a favorite past time of bloggers and NBA writers for years. With reason. There were moves like brining in Kurt Rambis as coach to run the triangle offense — an offense minimizes traditional point guard play — then instantly drafting Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn back-to-back at…

There has been drama — like the Russian win Monday that eliminated Macedonia. There have been surprises — none bigger that Germany being eliminated in group play and thereby eliminated from the Olympics. Dirk Nowitzki admitted later he was tired and maybe not able to help his team as much as he wanted to. And…

UPDATE 6:41 pm: Derek Fisher took to his twitter account late Monday afternoon to deny the report that he is set to play in the Impact Professional Training Series in Las Vegas. While he will be in Vegas for a meeting with players on Thursday, he denied he signed up to play. While I fully…

Welcome to the latest installment of “lockout video,” where we run a video and if you were to ask us why we’d just say “lockout.” Today we see Ron Artest — he’s still Ron Artest until the end of this week, when he should become Metta World Peace — leaving a Dancing With The Stars…

The summer of pro-am games is not over, but we have now finally found one that will not involve Kevin Durant. (Actually, there are reports he might play, even though he has no ties to either side.) Philadelphia vs. the Melo League from Baltimore is now set for Sept. 25 at The Palestra (the gym…

UPDATE 5:45 pm: It’s official, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune has two sources confirming what has been expected — Rick Adelman is the new head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Expect and official announcement from the team soon. That’s twice now that Kevin Love broke on twitter that the Wolves hired a new coach.…

When I think about who I want teaching my young daughters life lessons, the first name that comes to mind is Andray Blatche of the Washington Wizards. He of the Lapdance Tuesdays where there was no lapdancing. He of the ungodly natural talent but lacking the maturity and mental will to really exploit those gifts.…

Rick Adelman is in negotiations to become the next head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This should be quick and clean because as we’ve said before, the Timberwolves knew the price ballpark coming into the talks — $5 million per year and maybe five years guaranteed. There should be no sticker shock. I’ve also been…

Last month, when Bobcats owner Michael Jordan talked to a paper in Australia about the lockout, our initial reaction was to start a fine countdown. David Stern said he was going to fine any team executives who talked publicly about the lockout, and when it comes to fines Stern is a man of his word.…

Essentially, NBA players union president Derek Fisher went on twitter today to deny telling players they should get in shape for the upcoming season while saying they should be doing exactly that. That’s some lockout logic. We told you about reports Derek Fisher texted NBA players telling them to be in case training camps open…

Last year, Roland Lazenby’s fascinating biography of Jerry West — detailing his childhood in West Virginia and how that shaped a man driven by a fear of failure. A man who felt relief more than anything when he finally won an NBA title as a player. A fear that drove him as an executive with…

Milwaukee does not usually come up on top of a player’s list of desired free agent destinations. That despite the city’s fantastic array of bratwursts eateries. But Joel Przybilla is the exception — hw wants to come back and play there. Przybilla is a free agent looking to hook on somewhere next season as a…

Jason Kidd will turn 39 next March, and last season father time started to catch up with the old man and his game (he shot just 36.1 percent for the season, for example). But he’s a cagey veteran who can still lead, play some physical defense, make the right pass and knock down threes —…

Joakim Noah is not the guy on the Chicago Bulls that usually picks up the cool endrosements and ads. Derrick Rose gets all the good stuff. Or, did. This is a pretty cool little ad for the French sporting clothing and shoe company Le Coq Sportif featuring Noah (who is French, in case you forgot).…

Shaquille O’Neal feels like a lot of Celtics fans do — that the Celtics shouldn’t have traded Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City at the deadline last season. But Shaq went a step farther telling GM Danny Ainge he might not be back and not to make the trade. That’s just one of the interesting things…

Coming in to the FIBA Americas tournament, anything less than making the championship game — and with that earning a berth in next summer’s Olympics — would have been a let down for Argentina. They were the best team in the tournament on paper with a lineup that included Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino…

People tend to forget (or they don’t want to hear it), but LeBron James did apologize to Cleveland and fans for “how it all went down” with the decision. Of course, those comments came in May after the Heat had eliminated the Celtics from the playoffs, and were of the sentiment that “sorry, but I…

If this happens, David Kahn will have won the summer. After having a second interview and some discussions about money, it appears that Rick Adelman is near a deal to take over as the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, reports Bill Ingram at HoopsWorld. Sources close to the situation told HOOPSWORLD that Adelman is…

I know what you’re saying. You read that headline and said, “Good riddance. I could do a better job than those slobs the NBA hires as referees.” Which means you forgot about the preseason of 2009, when we dealt with replacement referees. Remember how we watched the wildly inconsistent calls from these temp workers, calls…

Friday at EuroBasket — the Olympic qualifying tournament for Europe — meant another round of play in the Group of Death. Spain, France, Germany, Lithuania, Serbia and Turkey are all in the same group and only four of them advance on to the knockout round. Spain and France are into the quarter finals/knockout round of…

Phil Jackson is no longer an NBA coach. He also remains the most recognizable and marketable coach out there. So he is still picking up endorsement deals and doing commercials, like the one below for Audi. Which is a pretty clever little ad. Note to Vinny Del Negro, if you want a few of these…

Was there progress in the labor negotiations between the owners and the players last week? Depends on who you ask. Ask Chris Sheridan (he formerly of ESPN and AP) and he says there is a 70 to 80 percent chance the NBA season will start on time Nov. 1. There are other whispers out there…